By: E&P Staff While South Carolina Gov. Mark Sanford was out of contact during his visits to his Argentinian paramour last month, his chief of staff frantically tried to reach him and his communications director worked to minimize the fact that his aides couldn't reach him, newly unearthed documents reveal.
Through South Carolina?s open record laws, The State in Columbia late Monday received nearly 600 pages of documents -- e-mails and phone call exchanges -- among the governor?s staff members.
According to the report, Sanford's chief of staff Scott English called Sanford's state-issued cell phone 15 times during the governor's Argentinian sojourn. Sanford visited his lover in Buenos Aires, Argentina from June 18-24. According to the paper, English received a call back from the Governor on June 23 from a different phone to say that he would be back the next day. A reporter from The State tracked down Sanford at 6 a.m the next morning at Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport.
Meanwhile, Sanford's Communications Director Joel Sawyer was dealing with a sea of e-mails inquiring about the governor's disappearance. Some e-mails, including one from Comedy Central's Stephen Colbert, thought the whole story had been blown out of proportion. Brendan Miniter, editor of OpinionJournal.com, said of The Wall Street Journal's coverage the day Sanford's disappearance was reported: "Someone at WSJ should be fired for today?s story. Ridiculous."
Others tried to wrangle Sawyer on TV for exclusive interviews about Sanford, promising a friendly environment. CNN's Larry King called Sawyer personally, according to the paper. One typical statement of support came from an unnamed Fox News Correspondent: "Having known the Governor for years and even worked with him when he would host radio shows for me ? I find this story and the media frenzy surrounding it to be absolutely ridiculous! Please give him my best."
Sawyer was also trying to co-ordinate a political response, telling State Representative Nathan Ballentine to "stay mum if you can" when news of Sanford's disappearance was first reported June 22.
Sanford has resisted calls to resign since he admitted the affair on June 24. He and his wife, Jenny are the parents of four sons.
To read The State's full report, go to
here.
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